Domestic workers are more likely than other workers to have been born outside the U.S.: Share of workers with given nativity status, for domestic workers, for all other workers, and by domestic worker occupation, 2019

U.S.-born Foreign-born U.S. citizen Foreign-born noncitizen
Domestic workers 64.9% 14.8% 20.3%
All other workers 82.9% 8.4% 8.7%
House cleaners 30.7% 18.5% 50.8%
Nannies 71.6% 11.4% 16.9%
Child care (in own home) 70.9% 12.3% 16.8%
Home care (non-agency) 76.7% 10.6% 12.6%
Home care (agency-based) 70.4% 15.4% 14.2%

Notes: To ensure sufficient sample sizes, this figure draws from pooled 2017–2019 microdata. “Foreign-born” refers to anyone who is not a U.S. citizen at birth.

To ensure sufficient sample sizes, this table draws from pooled 2017–2019 microdata. “Foreign-born” refers to anyone who is not a U.S. citizen at birth. “Foreign-born noncitizen” includes foreign-born persons who are either lawful permanent residents, in a nonimmigrant status (migrants with temporary visas), or lacking an immigration status, including both unauthorized immigrants and those with lawful presence (such as DACA recipients and asylum applicants whose cases are in process).

Source: Economic Policy Institute (EPI) analysis of Current Population Survey basic monthly microdata, EPI Current Population Survey Extracts, Version 1.0.2 (2020), https://microdata.epi.org

View the underlying data on epi.org.